Find Volunteer Opportunities

New volunteer opportunities are posted under Service Opportunities as we learn of needs and receive requests from community partners. Organizations
who would like to submit a volunteer opportunity can do so by completing our Volunteer Request Form. Follow the Center for Leadership and Civic Engagement’s Facebook page to get up to date information from campus and community partners supporting relief
efforts.

Untrained volunteers should not self-deploy to the scene of a disaster. Wait until
a need has been identified and the local community impacted has requested support.
Sign up to volunteer and wait to travel until opportunities have been identified.
Once assigned a position, make sure you have been given an assignment and are wearing
proper safety equipment for the task.

Become Disaster Trained

The USF Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) is a student organization adaptation of the FEMA program and a part of USF's Disaster
and Humanitarian Relief (DAHR) Student Collaborative. CERT is operated by students,
faculty, and staff at USF who receive both the CERT Basic Training as well as advanced
training in specific areas to maximize our effectiveness. DAHR provides members with
a unique experience by combining opportunities in research, philanthropy, and hands
on emergency preparedness under one organization. The mission of DAHR is to encourage
students with similar interests to collaborate and work together to reach common goals
through research and philanthropy. For more information on USF DAHR, visit USF Disaster
Management's Facebook page. USF Students can view DAHR on BullSync by clicking here.

Make a Financial Donation

Emergency management and disaster relief experts stress that monetary contributions
to established relief agencies are always the best ways to help immediately following
a disaster. When the people support voluntary organizations with financial contributions,
it helps ensure voluntary organizations can fund response and recovery efforts, obtain
goods and services locally, and provide direct financial assistance to disaster survivors
to meet their own needs.

If you are unsure where/how to give financially, check out these helpful resources:

Give Blood

Consider a Donation Drive

Immediately following a disaster, a community can become easily overwhelmed by the
amount of generous people who want to help. Due to the vast amount of donation drives
that take place after a disaster and the logistical challenges involved with delivering
supplies to hard hit areas, we recommend students interested in collecting and donating
items work directly with legitimate relief organizations in impacted areas to organize
drives or support an existing donation drive. Contacting and affiliating with an established
organization will help to ensure that you are appropriately trained to respond in
the most effective way. Remember, unsolicited donated goods such as used clothing,
miscellaneous household items, and mixed or perishable foodstuffs require helping
agencies to redirect valuable resources away from providing services to sort, package,
transport, warehouse, and distribute items that may not meet the needs of disaster
survivors.

·BEFORE Collecting: Connect with organizations working in the affected area to identify
WHAT is needed, HOW MUCH is needed, and WHEN it is needed. The right items, in the
correct amounts, at the right time.

·BEFORE Collecting: Identify transportation to move the items from where they are
to where they are needed.

·BEFORE Collecting: Identify who will take possession of the items and how they will
be used or distributed.

·Used clothing is never needed in a disaster area. Donate used clothing locally to
an organization that has a year round mission with used clothing. Or sell used clothing
at a yard sale and donate the money raised to a responding organization.

·Unsolicited, unorganized donated goods such as used clothing, miscellaneous household
items, and mixed or perishable foodstuffs require helping agencies to redirect valuable
resources away from providing services to sort, package, warehouse, transport, and
distribute items that may not meet the needs of disaster survivors. For more tips,
read 10 Worst Things to Donate by HowStuffWorks.

“How to Help” Hurricane Michael Resources

Search “hurricane” under Service Opportunities in BullSync to find volunteer opportunities related to Hurricane Michael. New volunteer
opportunities are posted as we learn of needs and receive requests from community
partners. Organizations who would like to submit a volunteer opportunity can do so
by completing our Volunteer Request Form.

“How to Help” Hurricane Maria Resources

In spring 2018, the CLCE and Campus Recreation partnered to create the Puerto Rico
Service Adventure trip program. The initiative was a collaboration of the Outdoor
Adventure and Bulls Service Breaks programs, designed for students who have a passion
for nature and outdoor education who wanted a way to serve Puerto Rico. In May, a
team of students and staff spent a week in Puerto Rico to help the island rebuild
from the devastation caused by hurricane Maria. We worked in El Yunque, the only tropical
National Rain Forest in the National Forest Service system, and Hacienda Tres Angeles,
a family owned organic coffee farm, where we rebuilt trails and replanted crops that
were devastated from the storms. We met with the Foundation for Puerto Rico and learned
about their important work to regenerate the tourist economy and met with students
from local universities to learn about their experiences and how we can support recovery
efforts. Throughout the trip experience, we learned how tourism contributes to the
local economy and enjoyed many beautiful amenities of the island. We strengthened
existing relationships with community partners and built new partnerships that will
provide sustainable opportunities for the USF community to continue to assist Puerto
Rico with long term recovery.

Our next trip will take place December 9-15, 2018. Our goal is to support student
volunteers traveling to assist with long-term recovery in Puerto Rico during winter,
spring, and summer breaks for the next several years.